The 90-second teaser for the Mercedes-Benz TV ad, which shows the seductive Upton strutting her stuff in slow motion while youngish football players stare in fascination, has critics up in arms.

The ad features Upton, 20, in cutoff jean shorts and a strappy black camisole, and is slated to air during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. The voluptuous blonde doesn’t actually wash the car, but at one point Upton blows at a handful of soap suds. She then slinks closer to the car and says in a throaty purr to the football players: “You missed a spot.”

Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz fanned the flames when it posted on its Facebook page: “What’s hot? The Mercedes-Benz CLA. What’s hotter? Kate Upton washing it in slow motion.” The post includes a link to the video, which is actually titled “Kate Upton Washes the All-New Mercedes-Benz CLA in Slow Motion.”

“This ad (reinforces) for millions of wives, daughters and sisters across the country that you use your sex appeal to get what you want,” a spokesman for the Parents Television Council told the Daily Mail. “If anything, this ad proves that we’ve regressed rather than progressed over the last several years.”

“It’s so clearly turning her into an object,” Gail Dines, the co-author of Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Critical Reader, told Yahoo! Shine. “It’s a more traditional, old-fashioned sexism, one where the male gaze is clearly in charge.”

Even on Mercedes-Benz’s Facebook page, critics have decried the ad for being “tacky” and “unoriginal.”

Said one:: “Not sexy, not funny, and not effective AT ALL...unless you live in a trailer park. Just plain cheap, absurd, and stupid. Disgraceful Mercedes.”

Added another: “As a proud Mercedes-Benz owner, this commercial is so below the standards of what Mercedes stands for. What is being advertised, the car, or the girl? … If Mercedes-Benz feels it needs to target a new, younger audience by using this form of advertising, you have it all wrong.”

However, as one commenter noted: “With all of these comments and publicity, the ad is CLEARLY effective!”

Upton was Sports Illustrated's cover model for its 2012 swimsuit issue. The Mercedes-Benz CLA was unveiled recently at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It is an entry-level model aimed at younger car buyers.

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